User blog:DB Baxter/Ab Inferno - Chapter 1: Somewhere, It All Begins
The Candlehearth inn was a decent establishment. The food was plentiful and of top quality… well, not ‘top’ quality. But it wasn’t too bad to the point where it desensitized the taste buds, so that’s something Being the only inn within the city of Windhelm, it was often bustling with many Nordic people looking to rest, eat, sleep, or drink themselves into a comatose state. And today was not unlike the others, as that was just the scene. The sun had set for the night, but not for those at Candlehearth Inn. However, one patron stood out amongst the others. A Khajiit, dressed in a rather unusual garb and seemingly armed to the teeth. A Daedric, a multitude of throwing knives. Though, he wasn’t really in the inn yet. He nudged the door open with all the force left in him, and stepped into the doorway. His typically steel armor and black cloth was caked in red liquid which was falling slowly down onto the wooden floor and staining it a crimson color. His breath was heavy, and his eyes looked tired. The rather grand entrance garnered the attention of the majority of the patrons in the room. They eyed him up and down with either disgust, horror, or curiosity. He returned the awkward glare, looking around and scanning the room for anyone he could recognize. And there was no one. “What’sa matter?” He spat, sending more blood spewing to the ground. “Never seen blood before?” “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” The barkeep explained, a young girl who didn’t appear to be any older than 25. “Cool,” Kaz replied, proceeding to march in anyways. He trotted up the stairs aimlessly, ignoring the stares that followed him. All he was focused on was… well, he didn’t really even know what he was focused on. His mind was rushing with so many thoughts and uncertainties that in a strange way, he didn’t even feel like he was thinking. His body moved without his mind being notified. Upstairs, was a much different scene then what was below. Poets and writers had seemingly gathered in one corner to share their new works with the world. At that moment, an Argonian was now narrating his short story to the small crowd whom had gathered, but Kazrris wasn’t particularly interested in that nonsense. Instead, he decided to seclude himself in the farthest corner, at an empty table, where it would just be his thoughts and him. He plopped down and rested his head in the palm of his hands. He watched the Argonian finish up his story and receive an applaud from each man who was listening. Must have been a good one, Kazrris thought. Either that or they were pitying the poor sod and clapping for the effort. Kazrris’s eyes wandered down to the table, and he seemed to have shut the rest of the world out, and was just thinking. The first thing that came to mind was what that bandit had told him moments before he ripped his throat out. The Fourth Era. Not the third, the fourth. He was far off from the time that he once knew. He glanced up again. No one was enslaved, the sky wasn’t burning. He hadn’t seen any fire demons in route to Windhelm. That means either they managed to take down Tharn, or Tharn was playing the good guy now. And the former seemed the most likely. The thought of who was still around from then crossed his mind. Maybe there were still a few of them around, who had managed to stay alive? Talin, Diana, Zaydate… maybe even Nissa? He had to cling to that thought as he began to mull over those who were not there. Ragnar was gone. Talin was possessed by that lich, he now remembered. And then his family. Vordel, Denon, Utahsi… Gone… These thoughts were soon interrupted, however, by a large fist slamming down on the table and startling him back into reality. He glanced up to see that the fist belonged to a Nord dressed in steel armor and purplish robes draped across it. On either side of him was a redguard and a wood elf, in similar armor, looking rather irritated with the Nord. “You’re at our table,” The nord informed Kazrris, nodding to the side. “Leave.” “I didn’t see your name on it,” Kaz glared. The Nord didn’t seem used to having someone ignore him. He glanced back at his comrades with a look that seemed to ask if this guy was serious. They both shrugged. “Let’s just leave the guy alone,” the Wood Elf suggested. “It ain’t worth the time.” Unfortunately, the Nord wasn’t interested in playing nice, so instead he grabbed the khajiit by the collar of his armor and hoisted him up from the seat and across the room. Kaz was caught off guard and landed less than gracefully on the floor. “There,” The nord said to his comrades. “That didn’t take up too much time, now did it?” “You’re always making more trouble than you have to, Sigmuth,” The wood elf muttered. He took up a seat anyways. “Relax, it’s just a drunk Khajiit,” Sigmuth shrugged, propping his feet up on the table. “Yeah, everyone’s gonna hate us for tossing a beggar around.” Though not everyone would hate them, one already did, and that was the Khajiit he had just tossed across the room. To demonstrate his anger, Kazrris walked back and simply attempted to kick the Nord's teeth down his throat. The Nord’s head snapped back as his nose was crushed, and the chair fell back with him. A loud thud sounded throughout the room as Sigmuth hit the ground hard. He cupped his hand over his nose and used the other hand to hit the wooden floor in anger. No attempt was made to stand, however, as he was disoriented from the kick and would need a moment to recover. Kazrris grabbed the chair and set it back up so he may sit down. The other two looked on in awe and mild amusement. Very rarely, Sigmuth was ever knocked off of his high and mighty perch, and when it did happen, it was never not funny. The Khajiit plopped down and looked on warily at the two other men. They didn’t look like they were going to make any sudden movements, but just in case, Kaz let his right hand dangle down by his right pocket. “You got a nice kick there, sir,” The wood elf said politely. “I’ve done better,” Kaz muttered. Sigmuth, meanwhile, had managed to drag himself up to his feet and wiped away the blood that was pouring from his nose. “You… biece of shit!” He spat out in anger. “Quit your crying, Sig,” The redguard smirked. “You’re a big kid now, you’ll tough it out.” Sigmuth wandered back over to the table with a dangerous glint in his eyes, and promptly yanked the chair out from underneath Kaz. The Khajiit didn’t fall as he rose to quickly. “You’ve got some nerbes,” Sigmuth said. His speech seemed to have been affected by the shattered nose. “You best get out ob here. Your messin with the wrong beeble…” Kazrris chuckled lightly at the Nord’s petty threats. The writers in the corner saw the commotion and began to leave quickly. “Listen, friend, I just got done cleaving my way through a bunch’a bandits, okay? I’m not really in the mood to cut more people down, so why don’t you-“ Sigmuth swung wildly at the Khajiit, but missed. Kaz had seen the swing coming from a mile away and ducked just in time. “Fine!” Kaz growled. He swept out the legs from underneath Sigmuth, and sent the Nord crashing to the ground again. Then, Kaz drove his kneecap straight into the Nord’s nose before rising and stomping away at the helpless soldier. At this point, though it was still funny, the wood elf and redguard interfered and began pulling Kaz away by his arms, who was still kicking violently at Sigmuth. “You have something to say now!?” Kaz hollered, spitting on his opponent as he was dragged off. “C’mon, get back up! Get up!” Sigmuth seemed in no condition to get back up, and elected to lay on the ground and hold his wounds. Eventually, Kaz was far enough and had used up too much of his rage, and he was let go. He wheeled around and pulled his swords on the Wood Elf and Redguard. “Hey, hey, take it easy pal,” The Wood Elf said calmly and reassuringly. “Just put the swords down and-“ “Don’t tell me to calm down!” Kaz hissed, tightening the grip on his swords. “I don’t have the patience or the answers to calm down!” The Redguard slowly reached down for his sword. “Don’t do anything you might regret, man…” “It’s too late for that,” Kaz growled, reflecting. “Too late for that…” Before the situation escalated any further, Kazrris heard footsteps approaching from behind. He did a full 180, fearing that it was Sigmuth approaching. However, these footsteps belonged to a different man. This new one was Breton, and bore the same armor as the other 3 did. However, he was much older and wore robes of a lighter shade. More yellow than purple. His hair was shaved, and he had a well-trimmed greying beard. “Oh, now there’s 4 of you…” Kaz growled. “Alright. I’ve taken on bigger numbers…” The Breton man simply chuckled at the Khajiit, only making Kaz angrier. “Kitan, Rindoth, get Sigmuth downstairs to Oria,” The Breton commanded. The two nodded and said “Yes, sir,” before heading off to get their incapacitated friend off the floor. With that, The Breton turned back to Kazrris. “Apologies for Sigmuth’s attitude. I assume he set you off in some manner, yes?” Kazrris narrowed his eyes at the Breton. “Do I… Do I know you?” The Breton responded with a light chuckle. It was an ominous sound that shook something within the Khajiit assassin. Perhaps he did know this man, but he couldn’t put his finger quite on it. The Breton did not answer, however. He simply sat down at a nearby table and waved Kazrris over. Though a little reluctant at first, he did follow and took a seat. “Might I ask what all of these blood stains on your armor came from?” “I cut a guy’s dick off,” Kaz replied. He chuckled again. Up the stairwell, Kaz saw, came a wine bottle with no one bringing it there. It just floated through the air and right down onto the table. It uncorked itself as well, and the Breton grabbed it for a sip. “Did you… do that?” Kaz asked. “I did,” The Breton nodded. “Telekinesis. It’s a very handy field of magic to hold.” “So you’re a mage,” “Yes,” They were both silent for a moment as the Breton took another sip. “So… you guys are a bunch’a mercenaries?” “Not mercenaries,” The Breton shook his head. “We are Justiciars. We are men and women who serve the Vigil of Stendarr.” “Wha's that?” The Breton gave him a bewildered look. “The… protectors against Daedric Activity? The official Anti-Daedra organization of most of Tamriel’s provinces?” “Never heard of you guys,” Kaz shrugged. “Are you… familiar with the Oblivion Crisis, at least?” The Breton smirked, seemingly as a joke. “The what?” The smile on the Breton’s face faded. “Have you… been in catatonic state for the last, say… 20 years?” “I guess you could say that…” Kaz frowned. The Breton took another sip. “Well… to make a long story short, a Daedric Cult attempted to bring the world to an end as we knew it. They were stopped at the last moment, and this organization was created to ensure such an event never happened again…” Kaz sat on that thought for a while, rubbing his chin. “How long ago was this?” “15 years…” 15… So that’s what started the new era then… The Breton asked “What are you, Khajiit? You look the part of an assassin…” Kazrris wasn’t sure how to answer that. Before his death, he was in fact a dangerous killer. But now, he didn’t know that anymore. “I’m a swordsman…” Kaz said. “Hm…” The Breton nodded, before rising. “Well, I am most sorry for this ruckus. I wish you a good day and I will be on my way…” The Breton turned to leave, but Kaz called to him. “Wait!...” He stopped. “Yes?” Kaz stood and followed after him. “Would you mind if I… came along?” The Breton arched an eyebrow? “You mean you wish to… join the Vigil?” “Well, I mean…” Kaz rubbed his chin. “I’m kinda just… drifting along right now. Just trying to find a place to… I dunno, get back into the swing of things?” The Justiciar gave him an odd look. “You’re an odd case, Mr…” “Kaz…” The Khajiit filled out. “My name’s Kaz.” “Alright…” The Breton said, still unsure of the Khajiit. “Follow me, then…” Kazrris walked down the steps, side by side with the Breton. In truth, he wasn’t sure what it was about this group, but he felt drawn to it. Maybe it was due in part to the fact that they were Daedra Hunters, and that seemed like something that fit him nicely, what with all the cannibals and fire demons he’s fought. Maybe he was just looking for a place to stay, a group to fit back in with. Or maybe he was just losing his mind… “What’s your name, by the way?” Kaz asked. "Senex." Category:Blog posts